Silent Observer 1 Us Freaks
by Underwater Owl
Summary: Abe is a mystery to everyone around him. He can read their thoughts as easily as the books he spends his life in, but is he so clear about his own point of view? Written for all who want to know just what exactly happened after he entered life support.
1. ch 1 running

**AN- **This is a story for anyone who thinks that Abe deserves more than he gets in the movie. Spans from exiting cistern to COUGH not going to ruin the ending COUGH. There's a sequel, but I'm going to wait for feedback on this one, to see how I should edit it. I will respond to reviews, and anyone who does gets a virtual cookie...

**Disclaimer- **Don't own Hellboy, Abe, the plot, most of the dialogue. Basically what's mine is Abe's thoughts. But anyone who wants can use those too. Sniffle.

**Silent Observer**

**Us Freaks**

**Chapter 1**

**Running**

Oh God, I hurt so much.

I can barely even feel it anymore, only spikes of heat and cold, when something rubs or grates. I'm still swimming, I don't know how, but I'm still swimming.

The light is ahead of me: the literal light at the end of the tunnel. If I can get to the surface before Sammael catches me, I have a chance. A slim one, but there you go.

Climbing to the surface, I break out of the water fast, propelling myself quickly. I put my hands flat on the ground to pull myself up; ignoring the flashes this sends me.  
_A truck excavating, light streaming in, the sky is open. This is the construction of the cistern._

_A man lifts the lid off, a rock tied to his foot, and suicides, jumping into the cistern right next to where I tread water, invisible to him. His wife left him. He lost custody of their children and had nothing left to live for._

_The rats move in and scuttle past, the cistern is walled up, forgotten._

Blinking these flashes of history out of my eyes, I scrabbled for purchase on the slippery ground. I need to hide. I pull myself up, kicking, and I almost cry out as the edge rubbing against my chest send sizzling slashes of light into my eyes. The brightness flickers, and I realize that this must be what shock feels like.

I pull myself over to the wall, wedging myself behind a pillar. I huddle behind the scant protection it can offer me.

My heartbeat becomes irregular, and I fight to stay conscious.

Oh Gods, I can hear them. They're coming for me.

There are two of them now, these monsters. Two of them to hunt me. They've just come out of the reservoir. They're walking back and forth, back and forth.

I tuck my leg in and almost cry out as a cuton my leg, I didn't even know I had one, catches against to tiled floor. I presume I wasn't as fast as I thought when I headed for that crevasse. It doesn't look deep. I can still dash, if I have to. I hope not, I was never any good at running; my muscles weren't designed for it.

Ironic, I get another vision flash, and see that this pillar doesn't need to be here. It's a mistake in the building plans. If the architect hadn't pulled an all nighter to meet his deadline, I would be dead now.

Moss and Quarry are coming. I can hear them. They're going to help me.

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no.

NO more death, oh please no. I've seen too much of that.

Death haunts me like a specter. I dream and see their faces again and again. I feel their spirits, and I relive their last moments. Sometimes I even feel their pain.

Sammael is coming back. Think of something else, stay still. Think of something else.

Lyrics, a poem, anything.

_Far over the misty mountains cold_

_To dungeons deep and caverns old_

_We must away ere break of day_

_To claim our long forgotten gold._

It's so close I can feel its breath. The heat stings my chest. I gasp for a lungful of air silently. My gills function above water, but it's harder. I hurts when my lungs expand, putting strain on the wounded skin. I wish I was in the water.

_A Senior Wizard_

_Of High Degree_

_With a special diploma_

_In wizardry_

_Is trudging along_

_At the top of the street_

_With a scowl on his face_

_And a pain in his feet._

It most definitely doesn't know I'm here. Moss died quickly, but Quarry was hurting so badly before he left, I can feel the energy they left tingling in the air around me. Honestly, I think that energy is all that's keeping me conscious. I can feel it slowly seeping through my palms. It's like light in a dark room. It's like water in the desert. It's life.

_T'was brillig and the slithy toaves_

_Did gyre and gimble in the wabe_

_All mimsy were the borrow groves_

_and the moam raths outgrabe._

At least one of the monsters is gone. I can hear echoes of Hellboy fighting it. My locator is on, but I don't even remember touching it. Shows you what habit will do for you. Oh Gods it's back.

_I can't get no satisfaction_

_I can't get no satisfaction_

_Cause I try and I try, and I try, and I try_

_I can't get no!_

_I can't get no!_

_When I'm driving in my car_

_And the man comes on the radio_

_He's telling me more and more_

_About some useless information_

_Supposed to drive my imagination_

_I can't get no!_

Oh humanity, you're lucky you have Hellboy. Look at me now. I'm dangerous in a crisis. I go to pieces so fast people get hit by the shrapnel. Douglas Adams really knew what he was talking about.

Sammael is gone now. I'm safe, for now. I want to sleep, but I know I can't. I'm going into shock. I have to stay awake. Someone will come for me soon, unless they're all dead.

Don't think that. It's not true. You're just scaring yourself. They'll come. That's what friends are for.

Friends?

Yes, they're my friends. I belong with them.

Is that the same thing, belonging and friendship?

I don't know. I don't really know anything anymore.

ARGH!!!


	2. ch2 rescue

**Chapter 2**

**Rescue**

An agent just touched my shoulder. Perfect. I make it this far, I survive where no other did, to die of a heart attack.

Someone has a stretcher next to me. They move me, and I have to bite my tongue to keep from shouting. One of them has their hand on the cut on my foot. He can't see the blood in the dark. There's not enough contrast. My shoulders are lifted, but he still has my foot. Stop it before...

I'm in the ambulance all of a sudden. I must have passed out. Understandable, I suppose.

Oh god, I'm getting dry. My skin feels sticky and hot. The blankets underneath me scratch, and my gills crackle when I try to breathe.

I cough, and try to sit up.

Immediately an ambulance attendant is next to me. I feel hands on my shoulder, gently lying me down. I want to sit up but I don't have the energy to. Someone holds water to my mouth.

Water, blessed water. I drink quickly, and cough. I bring my hands up to my throat, and feel the jerk of the needle on my forearm, carefully injected next to the fin.

The ambulance attendant has a wet cloth, and is dripping water onto my face, shoulders and stomach, carefully avoiding my bandaged chest.

I feel the moisture coming back, and a liberal amount is dripped down the sides of my neck, moistening my gills. My breathing becomes easier, and I hear someone murmur 'good, good.'

I reach up and gently touch my chest.

_I feel the monster before I hear it. The currents around me are disrupted. I turn, and am knocked backwards by the blow to my chest. I kick and swim and swim as hard as I can, anywhere, away, anywhere but here. I feel the creature's claws graze my leg and I shout in fear and pain._

"Hey, it's all right. It's all right. You're safe."

I open my eyes, and realize that the attendant is right. My touching my chest brought a memory. The blood is seeping through the bandages again. I place both my hands carefully by my side, and hold onto the sheets. I won't make the same mistake twice.

The attendant pours something on my cuts that burns like fire. I grit my teeth.

"You're brave. I've never had a patient that didn't scream with a cut that size."

I listen to the woman prattle on, not really listening. I remember a natural memory this time, not telepathic. My hand flutters unconsciously to my chest.

The nurse sees, of course, and grabs it, stopping me from hurting myself even more.

_The woman clutches her head, tears pricking to corners of her eyes. I stand behind her, and pity her, reaching out to her, but she can't hear me of course. Her head hurts so much she can barely think. She has had insomnia for the past week, but she can't afford to not work. She wants to be a doctor, and she has the requirements, but not the 'experience' required from her chauvinist boss. _

_Another night over, she is in the back of the Other Ambulance, hitching a sneak ride with a friend, the driver, who is passing her house on the way to a maintenance appointment._

_The other ambulance is painted like normal ambulances, but is different. It is seldom used, and the driver doesn't answer to the hospital boss. This makes him a favorite; he can flaunt his authority, and avenges his colleagues._

_The other ambulance is called. This is the first time in months. She is in the back, and takes up the roll of the Ambulance Attendant. It should be easy._

_The man who comes in isn't human, at least not in the biological sense of the word. She's frightened, but he needs help, because he's hurt. Beyond the gills and fins, she can see his muscles, and these tell her all she needs to know about the bandages. She traces her finger along his arm until she find's what she's sure is a vein. His pulse is slow and erratic. She starts first aid._

I blink twice, both lids flicking in unison on either eye. My doctor looks bemused, staring at my eyes in a way that lets me know that she is curious about them.

I blink again, and she leans closer, examining the lids.

What harm could it do?

I wink.

She bursts out a bubble of laughter, and busies herself in her medication.

The thoughts she send out are slight embarrassment, but she has the sense to realize I'm not offended. She is going to give me a dose to make me sleep, but I'm not supposed to know because my body will naturally resist. Not true, a human body would resist. I would welcome sleep right now. I ache everywhere, and the fire of the fluid still blazes in my chest. I begin to recite again, trying to take my mind off my cuts.

_When I consider everything that grows,_

_Holds in perfection but a little moment_

_That this huge stage presenteth naught but shows_

_Whereon the stars in secret influence comment._

I sleep.


	3. ch3 cockroach

**Chapter 3**

**Cockroach**

I am in water again. My breathing comes freely. I hear voices in the distance. It is morning and I'm going to get up and go have breakfast, and decide which books to read. I stretch my arms and collide with the glass.

My eyes fly open.

I am in a small tank, bandages wrapped tightly across my chest. It isn't bandages really, but a plastic apparatus that I can feel vibrating slightly. My entire chest is numb.

Ah yes, the cistern. I feel the ache now. My heart rate has settled, and is a bit slow, probably from the drugs. I touch the apparatus.

_Subject; Abe Sapien_

_Status; Monitoring_

_42 beats per minute_

_#nâââ¡◊ and more random code, data that means nothing to me._

It wasn't just a nightmare, then. I shut my eyes, staying limp, trying to forget. My arm falls back to my side.

The voices come louder.

"We had, uh, two agents die today"

This I recognized. It was Manning, of course. Like him to be here, arrogant fool. He is a biased boor. He continues, of course. This man likes the sound of his own voice.

"Clay probably won't last the night."

So Clay has been hurt as well, but not by Sammael, I would have felt it. It must have been something else. Hellboy will feel guilty, of course. He always blames himself, while it's so seldom his fault. The reason that he loses those around him so often is that he is strong where others are weak, and expects them to survive alone.

"Not now Manning."

Speak of the devil. Oh God kill me now. I'm making pathetic puns and laughing to myself.

"My problem with you is that you're reckless. These men trusted you to lead them as a team, where were you?"

I've heard enough of this blame game. I wish they would leave. I'm so tired, I want to sleep. Why are they still here? I begin to listen again, not really caring that I'm eavesdropping. They shouldn't talk in front of me if they don't want me to hear.

Now I sound like a petulant child. Wonderful.

"You have an insight, you know monsters, this whole thing is a farce because in the end, after you've killed, after you've captured every freak out there, there's still one left, you."

Two actually, numbskull, can't you count? There'll always be me. I'm harder to kill than a cockroach, which is odd because there's only one scummy insect that eats garbage in this room, and it's sure not me. I got the luck, and you got the looks.

"Manning, I wish I could be more gracious about this, but..."

DAMN!

I almost jumped out of my skin. My knees crashed up, protecting my chest, and crashed full into the glass, my eyes flew open and I felt my pulse skyrocket.

Hellboy has thrown a canister through the window. I wish I could read him. He occasionally acts without warning like this, it'd be nice to have some preview of what to expect.

I've never told Hellboy I can't read him. I suppose I feel safer if people don't know my limits. Then they can never be sure where they stand, and they tend not to overstep their boundaries.

Oh, he can't know about this. He has enough to deal with, with Clay being hurt, and Manning's stupid guilt trip.

Oh no. My chest hurts again. I see the rims of my vision growing black. I grope at my chest, which burns, and I can see and feel the blood leaking out from around the plastic. It hurts like hell, of course, even with the anesthetic. An alarm sounds somewhere, and a nurse rushes in. She fiddles with some machinery, and walks towards me. The blackness overwhelms my vision and I pass out. Before I go, I mutter "Don't tell Hellboy"


	4. ch 4 scars

**Chapter 4**

**Scars**

I wake up a few hours later. It is nighttime.

Liz is back. I can feel her energy around the room, from when she has visited me. She was experimenting, playing with fire, if you will. Liz leaks off a vibrant red dust when she practices, which I can see in trails of where she has been, the same as most people who have the use of mind magic. I reach out my palm and gather the energy closest to me, mostly from the chair next to my tank. I use it to help heal my chest, which is aching. Using other sources of more natural power is one of my gifts, along with telepathy. Power, I've found, can be judged using a colour spectrum. Red through violet, the basic rainbow. Liz and Hellboy both rate at the beginning, in red.

I, of course, am blue.

Dr. Broom walks in. He smiles, seeing that I'm awake.

"Abe, are you in pain"

"No" at least not any more. But no one needs to know that. It's one of my limitations. Why is it that I still can't open up entirely to these people? Well, trust isn't easy.

"The nurses say that the scars are going to fade almost completely."

I nod, not really caring. Appearance is something that doesn't matter to me.

Dr. Broom sits down in the chair next to my tank.

"Abe, I thought you should know. The bureau has managed to locate the last branch of St. Trinian's research department.

As usual the word sends me off again, into the most powerful memories of my life.

_The monks walk by again. Back and forth they go, in front of my tank. I watch them, unable to control my actions, forced to play out this memory. One swings his lantern close to me and I am blinded. I cower back in fear and they leave._

_The scientist returns. He looks down on me and speaks to the woman behind him. "Log, Icthyo Sapiens, date- April 14, 1959. Exactly 24 years after the capture of the Icthyo Sapiens entity, the creature now has the approximate age of a fifteen year old human child. We can extrapolate through its growth that it was born approximately April 14th, 1865. The longevity of this creature is stunning..._

_I shout and shout and shout but no noise comes out. The new drug they have injected is burning like acid all the way down my throat. I scream again, and the scientist takes down my reactions on his white clip board. _

I open my eyes. Professor Broom is sitting right in front of me. He knows I have had a vision, but he won't ask about it. Secretly he wonders, though. I admire him for talking to me. I always scare people because every one wants privacy, they like their secrets.

"They found several other people who received the same treatment as you..."

Another flash;

_I am tied to an operating table. A man in a surgical mask is leaning over me. He runs a scalpel along my wrist, drawing blood. I do my best to jerk it out of his reach, but I have thick leather straps around my wrists. These straps are custom made, they tried to use the usual thickness, and I snapped through them in under three seconds. I can tell these ones are much sturdier, and they cut into me, the raw flesh turning a deeper blue. I gasp for air, gills fluttering. I open my eyes wide and sit upwards as quickly as I can, scissoring my powerful legs in a kick that would send me flying through the water fast enough to catch a boat. They straps don't break, and a doctor comes over, strapping a mask over my face, and using his hands to stopper my gills, forcing me to breath through my mouth and inhale the gas. My vision swims and goes grey. At least I won't be conscious for the operation._

"... These various genetic experiments will come to stay at the bureau. Among them is another Icthyo Sapiens. I was wondering if you would consent to share your tank while the bureau works on the construction of separate quarters."

I'm not really listening. Another like me? One more 'freak' as Manning put it?

I'm not unique any more; does that make me any more normal?

No, I will always be Gill Guy, genetic accident, captured by scientists with a past I can't really remember. Six foot two with skin of blue, flippers, gills and a wonderful personality; let's hear it for Abe Sapien.

Professor Broom is going to give me one of his speeches. I've practically memorized all of them, but it's important for him to think he helps me.

"I know your past is difficult, Abe, but you can't let it shadow who you are now..."

I have had enough.

"Professor, I can't not let it shadow me. For me, this is a reality. I relive everything that happened every time anyone mentions the word 'Trinian' or my escape and joining the bureau."

_I'm in my small tank. The scientist comes in. He is holding various vials of liquid. The first one he empties into a tube. I feel a needle inject the liquid into my arm. It is numb for a moment, then the needle withdraws and I clutch my arm to me. A deep blue slash is rapidly growing, tracing the pattern of my veins. I squeeze my eyes tight shut, and feel the smoldering liquid working its way to my heart. It hits, and I convulse, ands and feet flail, I hit the tube, which wobbles. I open my eyes, the pain forgotten. The scientist opens the second vial, which contains the same liquid, but of a deeper colour. I know from his mind that it is more of the same, but more powerful. I crash myself into the wall of the cylinder so hard it topples over._

_The glass shatters and I feel it cut into my left side, where I land on the fragments. I get shakily to my feet and watch the scientist warily. He seems calm, and he takes a step towards me._

_I kick out at him, low, breaking both his knees with my foot. He screams and crashes to the floor. I run, leaving the room, knocking over canisters containing various liquids as I leave. Two liquids meet, and they explode, I feel the heat on my back. It dries my skin, and I cough, still running as best I can._

_An alarm rings and I run into a small room, sensing the water I know is there. True enough; an emergency basin for chemical spills is in the middle of the room. I climb into it and swim to the bottom, holding onto the bar there. _

_I stayed in that tank for days and days. I don't know how long, really. The building around me was evacuated; the government came and went, filling out their useless forms. None of them found me, of course, until the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense arrived. Then they caught me._

Blinking away the after images of the pain, I keep going.

"So basically every time I talk to anyone, I relive hell."

The professor was holding up his hand now, touching the glass, trying to reach out to me. I let out a half hysterical laugh, and raise my hand to a few inches from his.

"See, you're trying to comfort me. If I was to accept this hand, I would go back again, to that pool where I spent two weeks without any food. To living in terror, wondering if my captors were going to come back and torture me again."

The professor is horrified. He honestly hadn't realized how his words affected me. He also hadn't realized how deep those cuts ran.

I smile, and close my eyes.

"Some scars never fade, Professor Broom."

He nodded once, and decided it was time to leave.

"Please excuse me, Abe, I have a lot to think about, and so do you."

He stood, and his eyes shut. I gasped as his pain hit me.

"Professor... are you alright."

"I'll be fine."

"You are very sick, you shouldn't ..."

But then I realize that this was exactly what he wanted. He had little time left, and wanted to spend it making a difference.

"Good night Professor."

"Good night Abe."

He turned to go, but spoke over his shoulder;

"Remember Abe, when I am gone, you still have friends who will do the best they can to heal your wounds for you."

With that he leaves, and I know he isn't talking about my chest.


	5. ch 5 family

**Chapter 5**

**Family **

I flip myself upside down, smiling. I don't know why, but Professor Broom's talk actually did reassure me. Hellboy isn't the only one who thinks of him like his father.

Does that make Hellboy and me brothers?

It sort of fits, I mean, I've been taking care of him for as long as I can remember.

_I dive into the new tank at the BPRD. I don't trust anyone, not really, but they seem to want to help me. At least, that's what they think for now. They don't know the extent of my telepathy. In fact, they know very little about me._

_The tank is so huge, I can swim all around. I've never felt this free in my life. It feels wonderful._

_I look at the glass window. I can see a deep purple form there. It must be red, through all this blue water. I swim gradually closer, and see who it is._

_A five year old sized demon boy has his nose pressed against the glass. The horns coming out of his forehead also touch it. I swim up to him, and he jumps back, startled by my sudden appearance. His hands are uneven, one is made of stone. I blink at him, and he smiles shyly._

"_Hullo, m'Hellboy, and got you a 'welcome to BPRD' present"_

_His grubby hand holds up a little package. In it is a small rubix cube. I smile at the child._

"_Hello Hellboy and thank you"_

"_Wha's yer name?"_

"_I don't have one."_

"_Oh. You need one. This card says Icthyo Sapien, is that yer name?"_

_I shudder and shake my head._

"_Not really, no."_

"_Well, April 14th, 1865. What's that?"_

"_My birthday"_

"_Oh, you're older'n me."_

"_I imagine so, yes."_

_The child looked sad._

"_I'm older than lots of people here. Dunno why. Why do I remember April 14th 1865?"_

"_I don't know, did something important happen then?"_

"_Dunno, think's history. Let's make this a test."_

_I smiled and spoke in a formal voice._

"_What occurred on April 14th of 1865 that influenced history?"_

_The boy smiled his face lighting up._

"_On April 14th, 1865 the President of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln, was assassinated by a man named blah, blah, blah, boring textbook answer"_

"_A death, that doesn't sound very promising."_

"_How about Abraham, then?"_

_I thought about it, rolling the name in my head. It sparkled blue, almost the same colour as my skin. I smiled and nodded._

"_Abe Sapien, pleased to meet you Hellboy"_

I opened my eyes again and smiled. My brother was a new and official member of my skewed and deranged family. Not to mention my soon to be now sister in law. Liz and Hellboy are meant for each other. He's head over heels for her, and she is too, even if she doesn't know it. Besides, I suspect she may burst into flame at inconvenient moments. She needs a fireproof boyfriend.

A father a brother and a sister, my life sounds almost normal.

Sometimes I wish I could have an ordinary existence.

I mean, go to the grocery store, and walk down the street, swim in the ocean, not have to hide from everyone. Some people would accept me, like the ambulance attendant. But then I read the news, and see racism, and hate crimes. The Ku Klux Klan? If humans can't accept those with dark skin, what about blue skin? Of a different religion; what about gills then? I would be lynched in an instant, and I probably wouldn't even have my murderers judged, because 'Human Rights' don't necessarily apply to me, do they?

But I'm not out there, so it doesn't matter. I'm here with my brother and sister, and my father, who honestly cares about me.


	6. ch 6 an enemy

**Chapter 6**

**An Enemy**

Father?

Professor Broom!?!

A flash of light hits me.

_Kroenen walked down the stairs slowly, scraping his sword along the metal, making a terrible whistle that sounds like death._

_Professor Broom looks up and takes a deep breath. He speaks and his voice trembles._

"_I see the puppet, but where is the puppeteer."_

_I am standing next to the professor. I use all my force and slam myself into the coffee table. The jarring shock sends me back to my own body._

"NURSE!" I scream and pound on the glass. I hear foot steps but they're too far away. I just witnessed Kroenen's approach; there is no way anyone could get there.

"SOMEONE! Help me, oh God, save him. FIND PROFESSOR BROOM. He's in his library."

The nurse nods, eyes wide, and runs off. I hear her call security. They have to get there in time to save him. I feel myself slide back into the telepathy.

"_And the last clue will be left by the late Professor Broom. You raised the child, nurtured him, so in return I will permit you a brief, brief glimpse of the future."_

_I look at this strange man. He is bald, with a beard, and is wearing a black trench coat. I stand quietly and watch him. He takes father's head in his hand, and I know he is showing him a vision._

_I know this because I have done the same thing countless times. But while I take the Professors hand and gently guide him, this man throws him in head first using the brute force of his telepathy._

_The Professor stands, eyes wide, in a vision._

_The man turns and (impossible!) looks straight at me. He smiles a piranha like grin, and speaks._

"_Kroenen, someone is here. Someone else in this room. He is projecting a telepathic image of himself, and for that he has to be within five meters of the figure. Only I have ever stretched it beyond six. Find him."_

_I stand my ground and smile grimly. This weakling think's he's the most powerful._

"_You are going to murder him?"_

_The character nods, and I shake my head, slowly but surely._

"_You will die. I can't save him now, no one can, but you will come to regret your actions today. You have made an enemy more powerful than you know."_

_I step back, and watch Professor Broom emerge from his vision. The man turns back to him, and replaces his hand on his neck before he fully wakes._

"_Your God chooses to remain silent, mine lives within me. Every time I died and crossed over a little more of the master came back with me. He disclosed to me the child's true name. Would you like to know it?"_

_When the man spoke of his god, his hand crawls, like a tentacle was moving beneath the surface, and a shower of sickly green sparks fell to the floor. I smile quickly. Now I know I am stronger than him._

_Professor Broom draws himself up. _

"_I know what I call him," he murmurs with a quiet dignity and resolve that wrenches at my heart "I call him son."_

_Rasputin (I know it's him, suddenly) seems slightly disturbed by this answer. I interrupt them._

"_Hellboy will never be conquered by you, he has a family now. You'll never turn him."_

_He shakes his head slightly, and I watch, glad for once that I don't have tear ducts, as Professor Broom takes a cross in his hands._

"_I'm ready"_

_I glare at Rasputin, and interject. "Make it painless, he deserves that much."_

_Rasputin pretends not to hear me, but speaks to Professor Broom._

"_It'll be quick"_

_I nod, my eyes shut._

_I hear the blow, a horrible noise that makes me feel sick to my stomach, and hear a body crumple to the floor. Kroenen leaves the room quickly, wiping off his sword. I am left with Rasputin. He turns to me and raises his hands out in front of him._

"_So you say the child will not give in with his family. I suppose the old man was his father?"_

_I nod once, and prepare myself to leave the vision._

"_And you are his brother of sorts, no?"_

_You could say that. I remain silent, watching him closely._

"_Well then, I suppose I'll have to get rid of the rest of his family; starting with you, of course, spy."_

_He sends a blast of yellow energy out of his hands, and I let it wash over me and through me._

"_No. You won't be able to, because you're nothing. A man with a bit of god in him? Your power is all his, and not your own. I know your kind. You use others, a puppet master, or so you think. But one day your god will come out of you and he will crush you and feed on your body. You expect him to make you his right hand of doom? You will die, and I will be there, and you will remember me, and wonder how I knew, and if it was my fault, and you'll dismiss this as the ramblings of a morning child, but you'll have that one little doubt, and you'll be right. And you will go, and no one will remember you as anything other than another petty tyrant, as no one knows of the thousands of others, who lived, and died, and broke things down and courted a force of darkness, using the highs it sent him to kill an old man, and unleash a caged beast, but that he ultimately knew NOTHING" with this I sent a wave of indigo energy over him, rocking him backwards, and draining the energy he had been building up at his fingertips "about. Leave this place now."_

_He left, and I looked down at myself. My energy has deepened to indigo? Odd. And how did I physically move him._

_I snap myself out of the vision, and back into the tank._

I open my eyes and try to keep my powers in check.

Father is dead.

A glass pitcher shatters, the shards flying everywhere.

FATHER is dead.

A table lurches and shakes, as if it had suddenly had a heavy load deposited on it, the legs bending dangerously. The metal splinters and cracks.

Father is DEAD.

All the lights in the building go out with a pop. I hear several shouts of surprise, and I sigh in exasperation. Using my left over anger, I repair the fuses I blew, and write a quick apology note, delicately manipulating the pen in the other room.

Being an indigo power does have its perks.

I curl up in my tube, settling at the bottom and wait for people to find out what happened. Shaking and shivering in a tight mess, I finally fall asleep, surrounded by wires, and wondering how my newfound family is going to survive.


	7. ch 7 freak nation

**Chapter 7**

**Freak Nation**

Life was quiet for the next three days. Everyone was in morning. I do wish someone would visit me. I realize with a sigh that Liz hasn't been to see me while I'm awake yet. I miss her, and I really want to talk to her.

I practice with my new indigo powers. I can use them to manipulate objects now. This is interesting.

When I was red, I remember being able to sense peoples emotions.

At orange I heard strong thoughts.

At yellow I began to get random flashes of the present with physical contact.

At green I began to get glimpses of the past, and was able to read peoples minds easily.

At blue, I could see the past, the present and brief glimpses of the future while touching objects. Any particularly strong words that linked with memories could throw me back into a vision.

Now, at indigo, it appears that I can OOB (out of body) and I have telekinesis.

I can't help but wonder about violet. I wonder if I'll get that far. I'll have to ask Prof...

Damn it!

The same metal table, my one object that I continuously vent my frustrations on, which they have now given up replacing twists once more, and lets out an ominous screech.

I hear a cough, and someone speaks,

"I'll come in if you promise not to do that to me."

I smile, for the first time in too long.

"Liz"

"Abe"

She comes in and carefully steps around the table. She goes to the side of my tank and opens the slot they use to feed me. I open my side, and smile.

My little beat up rubix cube which the small Hellboy gave me all those years ago drifts into the tank. I snatch it and immediately start fiddling. Liz smiles and I smile back. I know she can tell I'm grateful.

She didn't only come to bring me my cube. She wants to talk about Hellboy of course.

Liz loves him. I know this, so does she on a subconscious level, I suppose.

"Do you have a few minutes?"

I frown and shake my head. "Sorry, I'm off to play table tennis in an hour" she laughs and I smile "But till then you can stay"

She sat down.

"I'm kind of in hiding here, I just had a minor run in with Manning."

I send out a small jet of bubbles, in exasperation.

She nodded grimly and continued.

"He bawled me out about leaving in the first place."

She reiterates the conversation, and I get more and more anxious.

"And so he finally ended up telling me basically that if I set anything on fire I'd lose my driver's license, my diplomas and basically my identity."

This was it. I glare at the table which resembles a pretzel, and it twists again. The strain finally is too much for it, and it collapses into thousands of metal splinters, which flutter to the floor in a pile of dust.

Liz raises her eyebrows, laughing.

I shake my head ruefully.

"I just got pushed up a power level, so my controls a little shaky, and the whole 'trapped in a jar' thing is really starting to get to me."

She nodded. She'd been in a psychiatric ward, after all.

"I know how you feel. I set twelve sets of curtains on fire every winter."

We sit in silence for a few minutes.

Liz is the first to speak.

"Abe, I'm worried about him"

I don't ask who, and she knows I don't need to.

"He hasn't spoken to anybody in three days, not a word."

Have you tried talking to him? There's no way he can ignore you.

"He won't eat, he won't sleep, and I've never seen him like this. Never. Should I stay? With him, I mean."

I sigh. I worry about him too. Liz doesn't need this side of me right now. She needs hope.

"Listen. I'm not much of a problem solver." I hold up my little rubix cube "Three decades, I've only completed two sides."

She smiles at this, the way I knew she would. I continue, for the sake of this little family I have left.

"But I do know this much. If there's trouble, all us freaks have is eachother, and I'm stuck here" she smiles again, and I can tell she is almost convinced. "So, take care of the big monkey for me, will you?"

She smiles, and I reach out and touch the glass. Her hand comes straight up to mine.

_Hellboy is standing in front of me, wearing his leather coat. He is so nervous he can barely stand still. _

"_Are you sure I shouldn't bring the Samaritan? I mean, what if someone attacks the priest?"_

_I laugh at this, and shake my head. I wear a plain black suit; I don't intend to be above water for long._

"_Red, you are so ridiculous, now go, or do you want to keep your bride waiting?"_

_He walks towards the aisle so fast I have to grab him by the back of his collar to keep him from running out too early._

_We walk down the aisle at a steady pace. Liz comes to the altar, looking beautiful in a ice blue dress, with no frills, falling straight to the floor. Liz always looks beautiful. She has an inner grace. Hellboy and I used to joke that it was a good thing we had her to look good, cause we could break mirrors. Honestly, she is the kind of girl who would be done up in a leather corset if they ever made a poster. Now, her hair is up, and Marina has persuaded her to wear a wreath of blue orchids in her hair._

_Marina walks behind her, and I am shocked to see another Icthyo Sapiens. Marina Sapien. I know her, or do I? It seems like a memory, but it hasn't happened yet. _

_Liz and Red are married and the happiness is throwing out waves of energy. I smile, and return to our time._

Liz looks at me, and narrows her eyes.

I smile happily.

"You will have a happily ever after. Don't worry."

She almost cried. I felt it.

She left, reassured.

All us freaks have is each other.

It's true, isn't it?

We have a growing group. Every one who knows us, no matter how nice they may be will never become part of us. Even poor Myers, will be doomed to sit and watch, as life goes on in our Nation, eventually.

Marina will come, and she will be welcomed, because she will understand, and she will not stare, and she will not flinch, and she will not point and whisper, and the other rescued people will join us and we will have our own small nation. Our Freak Nation.

Because all us freaks have is each other.

The End

For Now

By Underwater Owl


End file.
